This photo was shot quite some time ago and I threw it out as part of the culling for a Vancouver Musician. I originally though the bird and the hard shadow across his jacket was distracting and didn’t help the image. I was looking back through some of my work and noticed it again with a completely different eye. I fell in love with it. I liked his gaze off to the distance, the hard shadow on his jacket, the seagulls wing, and the railings both foreground and background helped bring you to his gaze as he arrives in a new port contemplating what is in store for him. If I had not been looking back at my old files I would have missed this picture in the rush of deadlines and culling.

Reflection is an art. It is important to sit and reflect on the past to make sure you are as prepared for the future as possible. Often as professionals we are moving forward so fast we forget to look back at our lives and work and learn some lessons from ourselves. We can get so tied down in the must do’s of our daily lives that we loose track of what is important, what is valuable, and what is necessary. Quiet time in reflection of your work and life will help you move forward with greater resolve and clarity.

We all have success’s and failures. Remember that both will teach and guide us into our futures. It’s easy to look back on our successes and try to ignore the failures but that is not always helpful. We can learn a lot from our failures. The key is to make sure you don’t dwell in the past. Celebrate your successes and contemplate lessons from your failures but dont get caught up dwelling on either. If you dwell on your success you will become arrogant and self absorbed, if you dwell on your failures you will become depressed and useless. It’s a delicate balance. Look back and learn then turn around and sprint with new clarity, vision, and wisdom.